The present invention relates to managing devices in a network and more specifically to managing devices using a device-independent communication interface. In the prior art, client/server systems have been designed for reporting about the state of devices within a network, however these systems have been limited in that they are device-dependent, requiring all devices to run the same operating system (Linux, Windows, etc.) and execute the same language code or object model. These reporting systems employ the standard three-layer application architecture (data layer, business logic layer, presentation layer). This three-layer architecture does not separate out system dependencies from the business logic layer and therefore, the three-layer architecture does not provide reusability to different device types.
Additionally, these systems are designed only for reporting and not for remote management, configuration, self-healing, and content management. Therefore, the prior art systems do not support adaptive process automation.